The iPhone 7s may be bigger than the iPhone 7 in one surprising way

Although all the hype is building around the iPhone 8 right now, Apple’s actually slated to launch a trio of brand-new phones this fall. The iPhone 8 should be the device to have, provided that you’ve got MacBook money to burn on a smartphone.

For those of us who only have one kidney to sell rather than two, Apple’s going to also release an iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, with the usual tick-tock upgrades over the iPhone 7. Normally, that means an identical physical design, but a new rumor suggests that the iPhone 7s will have one major departure from the design we’ve become used to since the iPhone 6.

German blog Giga Apple cites a source as saying that the iPhone 7s will have a glass back, unlike the aluminum back that the iPhone 7 sports. The change in materials might actually make the iPhone 7s thicker than its predecessor, as a sufficiently strong piece of glass is much thicker than the equivalent aluminum component.

Apple, of course, is no stranger to the all-glass back design. It used glass for the back of the iPhone 4 and 4S, which combined a glass front and back with that infamous aluminum bumper for an iconically modern look.

The size change should be imperceptable to any consumers who aren’t armed with calipers — 7.2mm rather than 7.1. Anyone who can claim to feel the difference between .1 of a millimeter is either a professional machinist, or a real Apple fanboy. It also isn’t a big enough change to impact accessories like cases, which is good news for anyone planning on upgrading.